Australia Bans TikTok From Government Devices

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Facts

• On Tuesday, Australia banned Chinese-owned social media app TikTok from all federal government-owned devices amid data and security concerns, with Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus stating the measure would come into effect “as soon as practicable.'¹
• Exceptions are to be made on a case-by-case basis, subject to security precautions. Australia is the last of the “Five Eyes” intelligence partners to implement the social media ban, following the US, UK, Canada, and New Zealand.²
• TikTok has also been banned by the European Council, the European Parliament, as well as the European Commission. TikTok — owned by  Bytedance — has repeatedly rejected accusations of sharing data with the Chinese government.³
• The general manager of TikTok in New Zealand and Australia, Lee Hunter, accused the decision of being “driven by politics” and claimed that the company had previously contacted the Australian government about its security concerns.⁴
• In 2017, China passed a law requiring firms to hand over personal data to the state if it were deemed necessary for national security.⁵
• Meanwhile, it was announced earlier this year that Chinese-made surveillance cameras would be removed from the offices of Australian politicians, also due to security concerns.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters, ²Al Jazeera, ³NPR Online News, ⁴CNN and ⁵Dw.com.

Narratives

• Anti-China narrative, as provided by Guardian. The data collected by TikTok poses a real security risk. While there's no definitive proof that China has used such information, given the current international climate, such a measure couldn't wait any longer. With Australia likely to follow the decision-making of the US, there may be a nationwide ban on the app in the near future.
• Pro-China narrative, as provided by People's daily. It's the US and the West, not China, that seek to use tech companies for political gain. The likes of Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and Amazon effectively run the global internet, while those who profit attempt to distract the public through baseless accusations that they, themselves, are guilty of. Once again, the West is focused more on politics than fairness.

Predictions